The Monolith Monsters (1957)

monolith-2Another California desert town deals with trouble from outer space, but the menace is pretty original in this one. It’s mysterious obsidian-like ROCKS from a meteor that crashed out on the plains and shattered into thousands of little pieces. People scoop up the shiny debris as desert souvenirs only to find that the rocks start growing and multiplying if you throw water on ’em. One tiny piece can grow so big that it crushes your house and kills you. Dashing geologist Grant Williams (of The Incredible Shrinking Man) works to solve the problem, but guess what? As soon as he figures out what makes the rocks grow, it starts raining and then the whole town is in danger of being flattened.

There’s a ton of science talk in this one, but it’s alright. Look for instantly recognizable character-actor William Schallert as a weatherman.